Mission 720
by littlebluelady
Summary: "I'm Kakashi Hatake," he says. "And I'll give you 500,000 gold, a tamed pug, a cabin in Clover Town, and this weird looking pendant that can change colours whenever you touch it if you can get me home." Kakashi centric. [Young Kakashi/Young Erza]
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer : I don't own FT and Naruto. They belong to their rightful owners. Not me, unfortunately.**

 **IMPORTANT NOTE : To avoid confusion let's get a few things straight.**

 **1\. In this story, Kakashi is NOT 13 when he becomes a Jonin.**

 **2\. Odd chapters will be the actual story, even chapters will be drabbles and backstories.**

 **3\. For this chapter only, words in italic is the past, while words not in italic is the actual timeline.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 _ **Kakashi Hatake is, by far, not intended**_ _to be their next object of interest._

 _There are expectations, of course. Little murmmurs and small nudges among gods and deities. Perhaps he proves to be a reliable source of entertainment. After all the blood of the Legendary White Fang runs in his veins. But even when his dear mother is screaming for his husband (because I can feel him coming out), they still shake their heads and say no. Why not the Kage's son?_

 _Then Kakashi Hatake is born._

 _Then everything changes._

 _As a babe, he is not much different than others. As a babe, Kakashi has chipmunk cheeks, and obsidian eyes that propel wonder and fascination, and a voice that calls attention. As a babe, he is blessedly oblivious to the mischievous hands that will mold his life into something utterly beautiful and something completely horrifying._

 _As a babe, Kakashi Hatake becomes their intended object of fascination and all it takes is a flick of a finger._

 _Flick and he is granted skills that easily overshadow his peers'._

 _Flick and Hatake Sakumo forces a blade into his own gut until he is a mere carcass on the Hatake household._

 _Flick and Kakashi loses his eyes only to regain it in exchange for friendship._

 _Flick and he suddenly finds a beating heart in his hands while life fleets from the girl he has sworn to protect._

 _Flick. Flick. Flick. And Kakashi stumbles and tumbles until he is drowning in his own despair. This is when the gods begin to contemplate their next action. Perhaps they have been too harsh on the boy? Humans, fragile fickle things they are. A grieving boy won't be exciting to watch after all._

 _One more, one god says. One more and we'll give him a long wonderful break. And a bright future if he survives._

 _And so at the age of twelve, Kakashi Hatake, son of the legendary White Fang, wielder of the great Sharingan, and murderer of Rin Nohara, made a mistake of falling asleep at his friends' grave and disappeared from the face of Konohagakure._

 **XOXOXOXO**

 **Kakashi Hatake considers himself a competent navigator,** and by all means this claim comes from neither his arrogance nor his obvious superior intellect.

At cloudless nights, stars and contellations are his guide home, and when traveling his intuition is as sharp as a compass. He has a basic knowledge of local vegetation - enough to note where he is if he somehow wakes up in a foreign land. He tracks criminals, and he has eight nin-kens to help him, all of whom are curretnly unavailable except for one particular pug.

And he's not even Pakkun. Just his doppleganger.

But now he's in a foreign dimension, and the foliage is too thick, and everywhere around him there are only trees and dirt. The map is spread wide in front of him, but even when the distance to Magnolia is, as far as a nudge of his finger, he still does not know where to go. His left? Right? Front?

The wyvern is to blame, of course.

Perhaps he shouldn't have left so early in the morning. Or perhaps Kakashi shouldn't have reached for the dagger hidden under the sleeves of his battered shirt. Either way, they were both chased out of the main road, and between carrying his pug and fleeing for their lives, he'd instinctively chosen the forest in hope to lose its trail, instead of civilization.

The wyvern is gone, at least, Kakashi thinks as he refolds the crinkled paper back into his backpack. Now he is faced with the choice of waiting for rescue while he shares the last slab of chicken rolls with Pakkun. Or he can get up, waste as little time as possible, and find Magnolia.

Pakkun barks beside him, and Kakashi reaches over to scratch a certain spot at the back of his neck. "I know you're hungry," he says. "I promise I'll buy you another Blue Sky Bolognese if you can get us out of here. Yajima said he had a branch somewhere in Magnolia."

* * *

 _ **The gods are gentle when they put him in Earthland,**_ _and Kakashi wakes up to dew in his hair, and sunlight in his eyes, and grass on his face._

 _Then he realizes Obito isn't next to him._

* * *

 **It's the noises he hears first,** and it's a chorus of shouting, war cries, and boisterous laughters. At this point, it's not entirely far-fetched to suddenly see tables, beer bottles, and _who knows what_ come at his head. But his tense muscles are not needed, and his imagination is simply _overimaginative_. With the lack of projectiles in the air, Kakashi squares his shoulders and steels his mind.

He steps inside, and stops upon his first step on the polished floor.

Kakashi is not used to this. Shinobi strives in the shadows. In order for one to return alive - _with as least injuries as possible -_ one must treat discretion as art, while running a kunai across a man's neck. Now they are **all** staring at him, and the feeling is foreign and overwhelming; he is frozen.

But then again, a boy with an eye for a face and a pug for a pet is just another boy with eccentric fashion and identity issues. The brawl continues. After all, there is a half naked boy in the far corner, a girl standing over a mountain of unconscious man, and a fight between one side of the guild against another. When so many oddities collide, it's become normalcy; and he's just another addition to the otherwise complete collection.

 _Good,_ Kakashi thinks stepping forward. He'll fit in just fine.

A man lands by his feet. The shinobi reaches over to tap on his shoulder, and idly wonders if his touch is lost under those bulky muscles.

A moment later, the man's eyes roll over to his face. "Are you a new recruit?"

"No," Kakashi says at once. "I'm a not a mage," he adds before the man can raise his questioning brows that he's seen so many times. "I'm looking for the guild master. Any idea where he...or she is?"

"He's at the bar, I think. _Ah -_ over there." His finger is incredibly accurate amidst the chaos. Far, there is not much to see. But there, on the bar stool, sits a tiny old man, head swaying side by side as though he's listening to a lovely serenade.

"The little guy?"

The man laughs, sitting up."He's hardly little once you know him. By the way...uh, you might wanna move aside." Kakashi thanks the man, and leaves before a table can squash him into mush.

Closer now, Kakashi is reminded of another face from his genin textbook. The Tsuchikage looks nothing like him of course; at least the Guild Master is not blessed with his unfortunate nose. Although they are both as old and as small, they are formidable opponents. Kakashi does not have to crane his neck to meet the man's eyes.

"Hello," he says kindly. "I haven't seen you around. Are you new?"

"I'm not a mage," he repeats firmly, no longer annoyed by such presumptions. People say he could've never looked like a civilian. Kakashi says it's the mask. "You're the Guild Master right?"

Curiosity pulls his eyebrows upwards, turns the left of his lips into an uncertain smile. Kakashi sees questions in his eyes, and ignores them."Makarov Dreyar, Fairy Tail's Guild Master. How can I help you?"

"My name is Kakashi. I have a special mission for your guild," he glances at the chaos behind him. " _Privately_ , if you don't mind."

* * *

 **There are three steps.** Kakashi has had five other guilds to practice them with. He succeeded with three of them, all of which would later end in various states of failure; he did not even bother with the other two.

Now he is at his sixth. In all honesty, he does not see a much different future. But now he is willing to give anyone a chance.

 **Convince**. This is the beginning of his trip across the frozen lake. The ice is thick, and there is land. He can go back, but Kakashi moves forward. Even here there are risks. Too excited, and the ice will give away and he will be plunged into icy cold darkness. His tale will be accepted as just that : a tale spun by children's creativity and over-imagination. Too slow, and he'll be seized by fear before the ice gives away. The conversation will lose its spark, and will simply goes ashtray.

Kakashi takes his first step, and waits."Before we go further, I'd like you to promise me, Master Makarov, that this conversation _strictly_ stays between us. Us and the mage that I may or may not be hiring. Promise me with the honor of your guild."

Kakashi would've said _I'd have to kill you._ That will show him who's in charge. But now he is powerless. Chakra **does not** exist. He is merely a civilian with above average self-defense. He is _just_ Kakashi Hatake.

"Of course. You have my word."

He takes another step. "Alright. Let's start easy. Do you believe in alternate dimensions, Master?"

Kakashi sees questions. Opinions. A hint of suspicion. A slight crack under his feet. He waits. "Magic is constantly evolving, and we've yet to uncover half of its secrets. I don't see the existence of other...worlds as an impossibility."

"It is." He stops again. To gauge. "I'm a living proof."

"You..." The Guild Master says, stops, and swallows. "...I see. You did strike me peculiar when I first saw you. Something was incredibly off inside you, though I didn't want to mention it until I was sure. The mission has something to with this, I suppose?"

Kakashi nods. He is near the middle. He's entering phase two : **Reveal.** Here the ice is the thinnest, and down below in the icy water, he sees predators of all kind snapping their jaws at his meat. If Makarov cares about his people as much as he thinks he does, he will ask questions. One wrong move and he is gone. One wrong word and he risks his village's existence to strangers without gaining anything in return.

"I need to go back to my world as soon as possible," Kakashi says. "I've been trying to find a way, but without magic I don't think it's possible."

There is a short suffocating silence. "If I may know, Kakashi, how exactly did you end up here?"

This is it. The beginning of the checklist. The fish are attacking. "I woke up here," he says as casually as possible, because the truth sounds as convincing as a lie.

"You woke up here."

"Yes, at the border between Fiore and Bosco about six months ago."

"I see."

The ice is cracking. Kakashi must move fast. "Master Makarov, if you think I came here willingly—I didn't. I have people to return to—" _People because everyone more than that keeps dying . "—responsibilities_ —"

"That's quite alright, Kakashi," Makarov intterupts him. He smiles at him kindly. Soothingly. "I was just wondering if perhaps an enemy sent you here. It's alright to tell me, Kakashi. We will still aid you, but we must know if someone out there is going to get you."

"Oh." He blinks. Settles back into his chair. "That won't be necessary."

It's the Guild Master's turn to blink. "Unnecessary?"

"There has been neither attempt of assassination nor kidnapping since I came here," Kakashi says, letting all the tension roll off his shoulders. "There might be... _conflicts_ from where I came from, but I don't think someone is targetting me specifically."

Makarov scratched his hat thoughtfully. "Then this mission of yours is simply to search for a way back to your world?"

"It may sound simple, Master, but five other guilds have failed." The mask hides his smile. "I hope your mage is up for a challenge."

"My children are very competitive, I assure you. Though I think you'd prefer S-Rank mages."

"One with your personal recommendation is preferable too," Kakashi says. He's reached an **agreement** , and even when he's still standing on the thinnest ice, the danger is well past him. From here on, tact plays no bigger role than the self-confidence that pushes him into this conversation in the first place.

"I'm afraid our stock of S-class mages is rather short, Kakashi."

 _No_.

"Both Gildarts and Mystogan are unavailable. My grandson is..." He laps into thoughtful silence, mind searching for an answer he is not ready to hear. _No. No no nonononono—_

 _"But_ there is someone. I don't think she's gone home yet. In fact I'll call her in right now," Makarov says.

When he leaves, Kakashi finally has enough will to ignore the thick treacherous crack beneath his feet until he is safe on land. The walls around him twist and turn into its original form, no longer the constriction squeezing his lungs into empty sponges. He stares at the odd-looking stick Makarov has generously left, presses his sweaty palms to his pants, and listens to two different footsteps.

There is art in this. One must be equipped with a certain ear to even notice the subtle messages they send. If left in dirt to be observed, Kakashi notes direction, heigt and weight, time, and activity. If left for his ear to listen and monitor, Kakashi pictures footwears, location, and a kunai that might or might not be aimed at his neck

Makarov's sandals are loud _slab slab slab_ against the floor, the other, a softer _tap tap tap_. Kakashi imagines shoes—bigger feet, but not exceedingly because the interval between each _tap_ isn't much longer than Makarov's. Taller than the Guild Master, but still short. Or young perhaps? Kakashi will just have to find out.

He catches her eyes.

 _Her._ And the thought fleets away to take in everything else. Brown eyes. Chocolate eyes. They're wide and boring into his own. With red hair. Not ginger. Just _very very_ red. Like blood. And she's wearing a long sleeve shirt under that plate armor. Or maybe a dress. He can't tell. Do girls even wear plate armor? She's got a sword too. Dangling from a belt around her waist.

Kakashi blinks, and thinks about samurais.

And a ninja.

They kill each other at first sight.

"Kakashi." He jumps down from his chair, then, and approaches them. They're in the same height. "This is one of the brightest mages in Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlett."

He glances at her hair. _Like Scarlett_. "How old are you?"

She's taken aback. Like she doesn't understand why he's even addressing her. Or why she's just been called away from her brawl. The only testimony of her participation is a sheen of sweat on her forehead, and his hazy memory of seeing red.

"Fifteen,"she says.

"Fifteen."

Her eyes say, _How old_ _ **are**_ _you?_

"She may look young, Kakashi, but age does not testify everything. Erza is the youngest S-class mage known," Makarov tells him, looking like a proud parent. "I am sure of her capabilities, in both combat and and intelligence. She won't disappoint you."

He looks at her again. At her _scarlet_ hair. At her sword. And tried to okay-ed the whole thing. "Well she's technically qualified."

"I don't understand," Erza says, glancing at him to Makarov and back. _Bold_ , Kakashi thinks."Qualified for what? What's this important mission you mentioned, Master? And who...are you?"

She really has no clue, does she? For a moment Erza shrinks until all he can see is her baffled face. He knows he's smiling at this point—his eye does this squinting thing when he smiles too broadly. Erza might not be able to see it, but he hopes he looks friendly. Scaring her will only be disadvantageous at this point.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake," he says. "And I'll give you 500,000 gold, a tamed pug, a cabin in Clover Town, and this weird looking pendant that can change colours whenever you touch it if you can get me home."

* * *

 **Okay, so a lot of you have been wondering why Kakashi doesn't have any chakra. Give me a chance to explain.**

 **When I was writing this story, I really considered his mental condition at the time. He was at the edge of depression, he had no scruples, and most importantly, he wouldn't work as a team.**

 **So then what made him go to the mages? Obviously from the story, we can see how secretive Kakashi is regarding his origin. He wouldn't contact the locals for help if he could. But he couldn't, because he doesn't have chakra. It'll force him to get out of his comfort zone and seek help. Not only that, this new problem will make him undergo major character development.**

 **So there you go!**

 **Any other thoughts?**


	2. Drabble 1 - A Series of Firsts

**Chapter 1.5**

 **A Series of Firsts**

 **Disclaimer : I don't own FT and Naruto. They belong to their rightful owners. Not me, unfortunately.**

 **Author's Note : I'll repeat this for the benefit of those who haven't read the updated version of chapter 1. A lot of you have been wondering why Kakashi doesn't have any chakra. Give me a chance to explain.**

 **When I was writing this story, I really considered his mental condition at the time. He was at the edge of depression, he had no scruples, and most importantly, he wouldn't work as a team.**

 **So then what made him go to the mages? Obviously from the story, we can see how secretive Kakashi is regarding his origin. He wouldn't contact the locals for help if he could. But he couldn't, because he doesn't have chakra. It'll force him to get out of his comfort zone and seek help. Not only that, this new problem will make him undergo major character development.**

 **So there you go! Now to the story...**

* * *

 **The first time a local talks to him,** Kakashi nearly lets the man fall to his own death.

It's not intentional.

He's not that cruel.

He blames the shock.

"I'm glad," the man says, with a tone that borders between displeasure and gratefulness, if possible. "That there's some mages out there who still care about poor old fools like me—oh _no_ , don't put them there. There's a shack at the back of the house."

 _Shack._ It's the only word that passes through the _pound pound pound_ in his head. His feet sway. His fingers shake. The ladder nearly slips twice from his shoulder, the hammer, from his hand. Grass trips him thrice, and nails almost put holes in his feet. But he manages to reach the rickety old thing and shoves everything inside unharmed.

Kakashi leans, and stays very very still.

The man is still talking.

"Hey, kid. Should I be rewarding you or something? But I ain't got anything of value. How 'bout breakfast? We still have some fish left from yesterday's catch."

The man, does not see a nod, or a yes, or any indication of his consent. But he assumes, and he is sure that a boy wandering at his cottage miles from civilization must be starving his own stomach. He trusts that he will follow, and he does a few moments later.

Kakashi hasn't had breakfast.

* * *

 **His first meal in Earthland** is not rice with egg yolk, ketchup, and home-made miso soup. It's rice with fried fish, and a plain glass of water. He does not touch them. Not yet.

The wife stares at him with growing scorn, the husband with growing worry. How ungrateful this boy is, they must think. Poor lonely couples don't give up half of their meals for lost children. Mages, whatever that is. He takes the spoon, and the fork, and feels cold strangeness crawl into his fingertips. Too thick. Too cold. Too solid. Where are the chopsticks?

The wife is named Mabel. The man he saved, is Ishmael. Mabel asks his name, and he gives it to her three seconds later. Ismael asks why he's alone in the woods at this hour, whether he's just gone back from a mission and is heading back to town. He asks about his guild. Kakashi shrugs at every one of those questions. It's not like they make sense to him. It's not like he cares. A shrug is better than silence.

"It's not," he says.

Both raise their brows at him.

"Not a snail. Or a bird." He pokes the meat with his fork. "It's a leaf. Symbol of the Hidden Leaf Village."

They're supposed to nod. Give an indication. A look of knowing. Kakashi looks into their eyes and sees sincere confusion. Not even a **hint** of recognition. And it scares him, so very much to be trapped in this twisted reality. Of questions. Of lies. Of— _of_ —

"Never heard of it," Ishmael says, and it feels like someone's just cut the veins holding his heart together. Down down it go until it burns in acid. "Is it a new guild?"

He shrugs, stabs the meat, pulls his mask down, and for once does not care.

 _Eat. Just fucking eat it. Isn't this what Obito would do in this situation?_

* * *

 **The first time he discovers** the lack of chakra in...well _everyone,_ the world is spinning too hard for him to arrange anything coherent.

The sequence is like this :

First comes the shock. It's a pool of unanswered questions, sudden thoughts, and the inability to response to any of them. It lasts for a second.

Then comes the pain. Stinging and hot; jabbing and prodding his bones and muscles, from head to toe—but mostly the head. _Especially_ the head. It's pulsing as hard as his heart. _Pound pound pound_. For a moment, all he could do is blink back dancing spots.

Then comes consciousness. When the treelines clear and no longer a fuzzy kaleidoscope of green and brown, Kakashi realizes, with growing trepidation, that he shouldn't have fallen. He should have been up there, dozing against the trunk, eating a freshly picked peach. He shouldn't be looking up to pink chipmunk-like creatures who had undoubtly come out to check on the ruccus he'd made.

He shouldn't be—he _shouldn't be this._

Kakashi stands up. He's frantic. His hands are frantic, and he turns around patting his body like a dog chasing his own tail. Each slap across his skin tells him that everything's there and not there. Something is missing. Something that's not his kunai, or his pants, of his pouch. Something. Something like—

Oh.

He stills. Feels the world spin until he's heaving against the trunk. He thought he was going to be alright. He thought he was going to return. He thought he was going to wake up from this nightmare as easy as a slap to the cheek.

But now his chakra is gone. And Kakashi feels dead already.

* * *

 **The first time Kakashi sees mages** is the first thing so extraordinary ordinary in three days that he nearly runs over to hug them.

The chorus of steels, war cries, and action. They reels him, call him until what's left tween him and the raucious battle is a plain bush he can easily trample over. His dying logic and muted consciousness. The distinct realization that no. No, they are not ninjas.

They are mages.

He turns, and the world is holding him down, and it feels like he's taking a million steps at once. _Move,_ he thinks. Forget this. Forget everything.

He does not look back, not even once, even when the earth shakes and he is nearly sent crushed by a falling tree.

* * *

 **The first Earthland garb** he acquires are not given, but are _generously lent_. He settles for things that he is sure will not be missed—shirts, stained in too many places, pants, trimmed at the edges, shoes, flimpsy at the soles, a cloth, long enough to cover his face—then he snatches them off, quick and unnoticed, as how any shinobi should.

There are risks in what he is about to do. Consequences that he has mulled and pondered over restless nights. The moment he sheds his clothes is the moment he sheds his identity. The fact that he is about to play a very dangerous charade does not bother him, but the fact that it might not end at all makes him shake.

 _No one must know,_ he thinks. _No one must know of Kakashi Hatake. Of the hidden leaf village. Of shinobis and kunioichis._

 **I do not exist.**

His face will twitch at pretense and his body will cripple with the lack of action running through his veins, but under the cloth of innocence and childishness he is protected. With this mantra, he burns the remains of his past self into ashes. With this mantra, he introduces himself to the world, naked yet confident. For from now on onwards, he is merely Kakashi. A lost boy seeking home.

* * *

 **Any thoughts?**


	3. Chapter 2

**Mission #720**

 **Chapter 3**

 **Something happened during the update last night and fanfiction wasn't able to read my chapter. Sorry for the false notification!**

 **Thank you so much for the reviews, favorites and follows! And I am incredibly sorry for the long update. This past week had been extremely busy. But here's chapter 3! Enjoy!**

 **And if i haven't replied to your review, I'll do it asap.**

* * *

For every man, woman, wizard, civilian he has met, Kakashi learns of one thing and one thing only.

That every door he's encountered is a closed door. They key, if there is even one, is lost forever to oblivion.

The only hope he dares cling to, is the fact that one door opened for him, albeit without his consent. One door, and it dropped him to a land unknown even to imagination.

One door.

And he will find it.

* * *

There is a certain fear that grips him whenever he hears his name mentioned. For every time his name leaves the confines of the lips and become a weapon at the hands of unmindful ears, he leaves a bearing stamp upon this world. A trace of a boy that should not exist.

And now to hear his name tossed around so carelessly like wilted flowers…

What are they talking about? Suddenly Kakashi's feet are walking on its own, stumbling over air particles and dust. _Why_ are they even talking about him? In public no less.

"Oh I don't know..." He hears the high pitched snide first. "It just makes me wonder why Master even passed you in the first place _. You can't even choose a proper job._ "

Kakashi sees a girl with silver hair, scarcely dressed, hands on hips and lips twisted in a cynical sneer. But Kakashi's attention is only drawn towards her opposer - five-feet tall, scarlet, cladded in armor, and just as angry. The girl-with as much acid she could muster, spites back, "Shut it, Mira. You don't even know what it's about."

"What can a twelve year old give you anyway? A lifetime supply of cakes?"

" _Just so you know_." Erza smiles, but it's all pinched and wrong. "Master chose _me_ for this job. Not Laxus. Not Mystogan _._ _Definitely not you._ And because it's so important, so classified, I can't tell you, you _bloody stinking witch_ anything."

When he steps inside the guild, the air is thick and heavy and there's a pressure building in his forehead. _Magic,_ Kakashi thinks, as he rubs at his tingling nose. _Very strong magic. Typical of an S-class mage._

And then he sneezes.

And all magic—purple and red—crumbles into thin air.

"Oh look, _he's_ here." The girl jumps down to inspect him—head to toe, grey hair to black sandals. She's probably fabricating the next hot gossip to ruin Erza's job prospect. Probably his image too. Whatever brand she's stamped on him, she seems very satisfied with it, and leaves with a permanent snicker on her face. Then Kakashi turns to the other girl. The scarlet-haired, armor-wearing, 15 year old girl who's finishing the last bits of her strawberry cake.

"Erza."

She blinks at him, face slipping into a mask. "Morning, Kakashi."

He told her that their relationship would be informal, but professional. He's her working partner, not her boss, not her employer. Kakashi also didn't want a love story. Like last time. He didn't want a girl to suddenly rip his mask off and had the sudden revelation that he was an available love interest.

"Which way to the library?"

"I'll take you there. Come on." She settles her spoon, gets off the bench, and he follows her to a small wooden door nestled between bar tables and barrels. "We also have a data storage room—" she points to another door, right at the opposite direction. "—we can check it out later, if you want. Some things are restricted but we have access to most of them."

"Great," he says and is honest about it. Previous guilds have libraries so small that he'd encountered the same books and transcripts with no fresh information. It hindered the mission significantly. "Great let's get started. And—"

She turns, and for a moment the words traitorously leaves his tongue. He is not used to this. He will not be used to this. But then he remembers, of his deceased teacher who occasionally gave motivation for his students during missions. It might not have worked on him, but it had work on the other two idiots. So Kakashi steels his mind. He says it with conviction even though he does not look into her eyes.

"I'll give you permission to rub it on her face after you succeed." He quickly rephrases, " _If_ you succeed."

Her answer is a familiar smirk. Familiar because he's seen it plastered on his own face far too often. And not because of the best reasons. "Don't worry. I'll be doing it next week."

* * *

He has been watching the back of her book for five minutes, unbeknownst to her awareness, and finally cannot stand it no more. "Don't read that," Kakashi says.

Startled and concentration broken, she settles the book down to look at him. "Excuse me?"

"Read something else. And these—" He waves his hands over the books she's taken off the shelves. "Don't read these either. Especially this one, charlatan's work."

"But, _but_ —" Erza looks flustered already. Because he can't even trust her with _reading_. "We haven't even touched them yet! How can you be so sure? And a charlatan?"

"He said some very convincing things. I was bound to doubt," he says, looking over the title of the books one by one and settling them aside. "We found him at the outskirts of town, and you know what he said? He was just doing it for the money. I wasted a week on that. And _yes,_ I have read them all."

She doesn't budge. "We can double check. Two heads are always better than one."

"Most of these only say about theories and hypothesis," he explains. "None of them mention anything on _how_ to do dimensional travel. So don't read them."

" _Fine_ , OK. Then—" Kakashi pretends not to notice the blush creeping up her neck. "Which one should I read?"

He pushes a book to her face. "Start with this. Looks promising."

She complies with out a word, starts flipping through the pages, and settles into firm determination. Satisfied with this change, Kakashi returns to his own reading list. His current book tells of all the great mages who could manipulate space and time, twist and contort them into unimaginable things. It's a lost art, and half of the book is wasted on warning him of the dangers and catastrophe it can cause if fallen to the wrong hands.

The next one tells of alternate dimensions. There aren't any substantial proofs of their existence. He closes it and moves hours the are locked in this routine: flipping through pages, perusing through words, searching for hidden meanings and possible clues. They don't find any.

"Kakashi?" Beside him, Erza closes her book and lies her head on the table.

It must be nearing nighttime, Kakashi thinks. The lines blur together at the smallest interruption. He rubs and blinks his eyes. "What is it?"

"Your world." Kakashi stills ever so slightly. "What is it like? Do you have magic?"

"I don't think I should tell you," he says, almost coldly. He swallows and tries again. "The place where I come from—we're not in the best conditions. I don't want to drag your world into this mess."

 _Because we've lost so many… So many._

"Oh," she says. Her eyes are glazing over. "It's just that I was wondering how we can even find your world if we don't even know what it is."

"I'll tell you…if the circumstances call for it. We haven't even found a way for dimensional travel."

"We'll find it," she says and the fire is back in her eyes. "If there's a way in, then there must be a way out. We'll get you home."

Kakashi tries very very hard to believe her.

* * *

When the hour strikes eight, fatigue becomes a burden too heavy to carry, and both children, too stubborn to admit it, subtly excuses themselves to go home.

Kakashi has a dog to feed. And Erza, never wanting to disappoint her partner, tells him that she'll continue their work _at home,_ even going so far as promising him to have something new to show by the next morning.

Minutes later, they bid their goodbyes and that marks the end of their second day.

When Kakashi reaches his motel room, he does not bother to clean himself up. Instead he tosses his half-eaten chicken drumstick to the pug, kicks off his sandals, and drops himself on the rickety bed. For the next 13 days, this will be Kakashi's home, where the windows are cracked, and the air smells like piss and sex. Tomorrow, he'll be heading to Erza's home, where the rooms cost 100.000 gold each, are completely free of boys, and has Magnolia as its backyard.

Tomorrow, Kakashi is heading to Fairy Hills.

XOXOXO

 **There is an old lady standing behind him.** And Kakashi, who is still clinging to his stubborn conviction that _no, no one should have been able to sneak up on him like that, not with Pakkun beside him,_ _ **not like that**_ _,_ does not dare turn around. But alas the lady speaks and she is furious.

"And what's a boy like you doing at my home?"

This is the moment his conviction, self-confidence, and self-esteem shatters completely. Irreparable. Has the lack of proper practice reduced him to _this_? Aghast but careful not to show it, he turns, finds nothing but white hair, and cranes his neck downwards. _This_ , he thinks, _this is his assailant._

Very casually he says, "Isn't this the girl's dormitory?"

"It's also where I live," The lady says, like he's stupid. Kakashi is beginning to think he's impaired too. "And no boy nor man alive has ever stepped a foot into my home! I'm not going to start letting you stomp all over my floor." The lady's not finished yet—Kakashi closes his mouth. "And don't even try saying you're a crossdresser. I've smelled your stinky male ass since you entered my property."

"Wasn't trying to." He looks around, from the garden to the porch, then to the windows lined along the walls. "I'm just looking for Erza. Is she here?"

At the mention of her name, the old lady falters. "What business do you have with her?"

"I'm her partner."

A pause. "Romantic...partner?"

" _Working..._ partner," he mumbles quickly and feels the blood rushing to his cheeks. "We…We're working on a mission together."

The old lady laughs. Cackles. And now she looks more amused than anything. "Don't lie to me. You're not even a mage!"

"I never said I was." Again, he glances at the windows. "Look, I don't even need to go inside. I only need to talk to her. So if you can just call her outside-"

"Not possible," the lady snaps at him. "Now get out! You're not welcome here. And bring your dirty mutt with you!"

At this Pakkun barks and bares his teeth. It's as if he's saying, "I'm a ninken you old hag! A ninken! not some kind of useless disgusting mutt!"

"I'm just going to get her," Kakashi says, reaching for the spot between his ears to calm him down. "Then we'll leave, OK?"

There is that moment of silence when it occurs to both minds that neither party is willing to back down. Kakashi turns at the same time the lady grabs his arm. She screams, fingers scraping and scratching his skin, but Kakashi is stronger; he tells Pakkun to stay outside and then it's him who is pulling her inside.

When the hand disappears, it takes everything he has not to turn around. Instead, Kakashi rubs at the pink scratch marks around his arms and walks inside.

XOXOXO

The living room is empty, so he takes the liberty to make himself comfortable at the sofa. Seconds tick by. Minutes. He hears soft footsteps, but when he looks up at the stairs—it is not Erza. Instead the stranger says, "Boys aren't supposed to be here."

Why do people keep saying that? It's not like he came all the way here to peek on naked girls. "I'm just here for Erza. "

The girl only hides more behind the rails, but nothing could really hide her uncanny blue hair. "Erza is... she's still asleep."

Kakashi cannot believe this. "Asleep?"

"Yeah. She stayed up reading last night. I helped her for a while but somewhere around midnight, she called it a day." She pauses here, like she is considering the weight of her next words. "I didn't think she did though. I think she pulled an all nighter."

" _You_ helped her?"

"I only helped her summarize a few books. Erza wouldn't tell me what the mission is about," she says. "Erza keeps her promises. You don't have to worry about that."

"OK," Kakashi says, tense shoulder slumping. "OK."

"Do you want me to wake her up?"

"No, I'll come with you," Kakashi says, already climbing up the stairs.

The girl just stares at him.

" _Please_ ," he says, and it kills him to hear himself sound like a crying dog. "I've had enough of girls for today."

XOXOXOXO

Erza's room is on the second floor, fifth door from the stairs, second door from the other end of the hallway. He commits it to his mind, so that the next time he comes, he won't bother with the front door and the crazy old lady and Erza's other neighbors with uncanny colored hair. He'll just climb her window.

The girl-Levi presses her ears against the door, then shakes her head.

"She's definitely asleep," Levi whispers at him and turns the knob.

When they enter, the room is dark, the curtains are closed, and the bed is neat and tidy. Untouched. The only sign of Erza is the desk. That's where they find her- a messy heap with her faced pressed on an open book, drool puddling on a random page. That's where the snore comes from. Where he sees the loose tendrils of scarlet hair.

"Do you want me to...uhm." She stops there to stare at him with wide eyes, hands wrung together. Kakashi glances back from the sleeping girl, then to Levi. He knows exactly what is going through her head right now.

Erza is pretty terrifying.

"Leave now," Kakashi says quietly. "Before she wakes up. I won't tell her."

"OK," Levi whispers and then stiffly turns towards the door. "I'll leave you two be—"

"Wait," Kakashi says. He grabs a picture frame from the desk and points to— _what a surprise—_ the old lady from before. "Does she own this place?"

A flicker of a shadow. Levi turns to him with tightened lips, but her eyes carry a deeper meaning. "Hilda was our previous matron. She…"Her voice hitches. "She died sometime ago. Her carriage fell from a cliff."

Everything clicks. He offers a solemn nod to the girl, and Levi nods back before closing the door.

When she's gone, Kakashi inspects the mess, notes the opened and marked books, then picks one that is still untouched.

"You." It's the old lady again. Standing behind him. He turns, just to regard her. "You're not from here are you?"

"I should be saying the same thing," Kakashi says, and calmly goes back to the line he's reading.

"Why did you come here? Did you bring trouble with you? Enemies from land unknown?"

"Why do you care?" Kakashi says. "You're already dead."

"It's my business if it involves my girls. It's my business if you come knocking on my door. Now answer the question. Did you or did you not come here with an enemy?"

"No one is chasing me," Kakashi says, flipping the page. "When I woke up here, I was alone."

"Then why are you here?"

" _I don't know."_

"You don't know? Don't lie to me _,"_ she presses. "I know that face. I've lived with enough mages to know when they're troubled. To know that today might be their last day."

"What you see," Kakashi says, voice hard and fists clenched. "Is the face of a lost child. A child finding his way home."

Beside him, Erza stirs. "I cannot leave my girls to a stranger-"

"I am not going to hurt her," he cuts in, and returns her skeptic gaze with his own. "I am not going to hurt anyone. That, you have my word."

"Kakashi?"

The distraction is her escape. Kakashi blinks and Hilda is gone. After a beat, he replies without looking, "Morning."

In her groggy state, she is completely oblivious to the weight of the reality she's currently in. When it settles in (and it is a gradual process—Kakashi sees it in her eyes), she sits up so fast the page she lies on tears and sticks to her cheek instead.

"How did you find my room—"

"I searched."

"I thought we were meeting downstairs. Not here, in my room—"

"I was, until I learnt you were still asleep—"

"How did you know I was still asleep?"

He stills. She caught him there. "Go shower," he says, looking away. "We've wasted enough time."

Too embarassed to continue, Erza drops the argument. "I'll make it quick," she says. "Just don't touch anything, okay? Especially the books."

His gaze drops to the book in his hand. So did hers. "Kakashi," Erza says slowly. "Kakashi, what are you reading?"

"You tell me," Kakashi replies, not catching up. "I've only read the first page—" He holds up the cover in front of her, and then quickly, like lightning, she slaps it off his fingers.

"Shit—Erza!" If Kakashi hadn't caught himself, _if he hadn't stopped_ , he would've twisted and broken her arm by now. "Sh— What was that for?"

"Don't!" Erza has her arms in front of him like a shield. "Don't touch it!"

"What?"

"It's not a normal book," she says to him and swallows. "I think this might be it. I think this is our answer."

* * *

When he is alone and completely sure that the book will not jump at him does he dare look at it again.

It reads : Memory Days.

* * *

 **A/N :Don't judge yet. More to come. Any thoughts?**


End file.
